Tretton: Move is not meant to replace current controllers

SCEA bossman Jack Tretton has said that Move is not meant to replace current controllers, only to provide the consumer with options.

Speaking to G4 during GDC, Tretton also said that while Nintendo may have ushered in the era of motion controls, Sony was right there with it with EyeToy.

“We have a 15-year heritage in this business which in some industries that is a short time, but in the game industry, it is a lifetime,” Tretton told G4’s Adam Sessler.

“PlayStation has come to stand for accuracy, cutting edge technology, and we certainly give Nintendo all the credit in the world for what they have accomplished with motion gaming, but we really feel we ushered that in with the original EyeToy.

“So what we feel we have progressed to is the next generation of motion gaming experience where using the controller and the camera, we’re able to get the most immersive, most realistic, motion gaming experience gamers have ever seen.

“The key though for the consumer is choice. We don’t want to force motion gaming down their throat, so for the shooter fan, it’s gonna be ‘well, I like motion gaming but I prefer my DualShock’, so that’s going to be be there for them. The thing about this motion gaming is that it’s an add-on, and enhancement, and an extension of what already exists, not a replacement.

“We have 36 developers on board for this, the who’s-who of the development community and just from our worldwide studios alone, you’re going to see twenty games this fiscal year and it’s going to span the casual and hardcore”.

As far as availability is concerned, Sony doesn’t foresee a shortage at retail for the new controller, like PS3 is currently experiencing, because the controller has been in the makings for a long enough time.

“There’s going to be a large number of controllers available [at launch] but we don’t anticipate a shortage,” said Tretton. “We’ve been working on this for several years, and we also wanted to be able to come up with something that is affordable.

“So we will have a SKU available that has the controllers, has the Eye, and a game build in for under $100 – but we’ll sell the individual components separately too and then we will sell and uber-bundle for the PS3 consumer wanna-be that doesn’t own one yet with everything under one roof for one price”.

The controller is expected sometime in the fall – or at least before the holidays.

Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. For more information, go here.